Research Articles: All posts tagged 'joshua'

  • Non-Technical Language
  • Technical Language
  • Expert Language

Join ABR on the Dig in Israel 1/30/2012 - by Henry B. Smith Jr. MA

The location of Joshua's Ai has been a matter of mystery and controversy since the beginnings of archaeological research in Israel. Scholars have concluded that the location of Joshua’s Ai is at et-Tell. They have also used this conclusion to discredit the Biblical account of Joshua 7-8 because there is no evidence of occupation at et-Tell during the time of Joshua. We believe they are incorrect, not the Bible.

The Search for Joshua's Ai: Digging in Israel with ABR 10/18/2011 - by Henry B. Smith Jr. MA

"Ai is simply an embarrassment to every view of the conquest that takes the biblical and archaeological evidence seriously." Or at least, that is what many of the critics say...

Fall of Jericho: DVD 8/18/2011 - by Henry B. Smith Jr. MA

The fall of Jericho is a well-known story, fascinating children and adults alike. But what really happened there thousands of years ago? Did God work a miracle to bring down the walls of Jericho as the Bible says? The answers, previously buried under rubble and dirt for three and a half millennia, have been uncovered in the past century of excavations at the site. The Fall of Jericho explores what really happened as Joshua and the Israelites experienced one of the Bible’s greatest military victories.

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir 2011 7/18/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

The 9th season of the Associates for Biblical Research’s (ABR) excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir was held in May and June, 2011. All 9 seasons have been sponsored by ABR and under the direction of Dr. Bryant Wood. Located 9 miles north of Jerusalem in Israel’s West Bank, we call this dig “The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir”.

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir, 2011: Days Seven to Ten 6/6/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

On Friday June 3, we finished the 9th season of ABR’s Excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir. Before the day was over, we had been treated to a second breakfast by the Palestinian family who has stored our tools for the last 3 dig seasons, we hosted a visit by the Master’s College IBEX study tour group, we filmed 3 YouTube videos and wrapped up our excavation.

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir, 2011: Day Six 5/30/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

We have now started our second week at Khirbet el-Maqatir. Much to Dr. Bryant Wood’s chagrin, we have not made much progress on the Late Bronze 1 fortress (the Ai of Joshua).

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir, 2011: Days Three to Five 5/28/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

I got lost in a flurry of activity this week and have missed a couple days of reporting. Today is Saturday and a bunch of us went to the Shabbat service with Jewish believers in Jesus here at Yad HaShmonah. Earlier this morning we actually experienced the latter (spring) rains frequently mentioned in the Scriptures. This one, a short but hard downpour about 9 AM, was a really later latter (spring) rain for this country. But, in all honestly, it brought no significant relief from the heat – 96 degrees yesterday!

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir, 2011: Day Two 5/24/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

For the first day of the dig, we were pretty pleased at how well we got things going. Today, we got into our squares in earnest. While pottery, tools, weapons and jewelry are interesting, my favorite find in archaeology is architecture. Walls and floors make me a happy archaeologist, and today I was really feeling it!

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir: Season 9-Day One 5/23/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

At 4:30 this morning, I believe we had the best early breakfast ready and waiting for us in the 9 years I have been digging at Khirbet el-Maqatir and staying at Yad Hashmona!

The Search for Joshua’s Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir: Season 9-Set Up Day 5/22/2011 - by Gary Byers MA

Tomorrow we begin the first day of excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir, 10 miles north of Jerusalem in Israel’s West Bank. Directed by Dr. Bryant Wood, this is the dig’s 9th season, all sponsored by the Associates for Biblical Research.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Eight) 2/22/2011 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood answers questions after his presentation on Joshua's Ai and ABR's excavations at Khirbet el-Maqatir, Israel.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Seven) 2/13/2011 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Six) 2/7/2011 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Five) 2/1/2011 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Four) 1/21/2011 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

The Dating of Hazor's Destruction in Joshua 11 Via Biblical, Archaeological, and Epigraphical Evidence 1/6/2011 - by Doug Petrovich ThM MA

Undoubtedly, one of the hottest topics in the field of OT biblical studies in recent years is the dating of the Exodus.[1] Essentially, there are two prevailing positions: the early Exodus view, which contends that the Israelite Exodus transpired during the middle of the 15th century BC, and the late Exodus view, which purports that the Israelites actually left Egypt nearly 200 years later, during the 13th century BC. On the side of the latter view, biblical archaeologists such as James Hoffmeier contend that a 13th century BC Exodus better fits the material evidence, in large part due to alleged connections between sites mentioned in the biblical text—such as the store-city of Raamses (Exod 1:11), which he asserts “is likely to be equated with the Delta capital built by and named for Ramesses II, that is, Pi-Ramesses”[2]—and excavated or identifiable sites in Egypt.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Three) 12/8/2010 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part Two) 11/29/2010 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Finding the Lost City of Ai: Joshua 7-8 with Dr. Bryant Wood (Part One) 11/1/2010 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood walks the audience through the archaeological evidence pertaining to the Conquest of the Biblical city of Ai, discussing the scholarly debate, the evidence he has encovered, and the case for Khirbet el-Maqatir as the Ai of Joshua.

Search for and Discovery of Joshua's Ai 6/24/2010 - by Henry B. Smith Jr. MA

Please watch this four minute video created by ABR Volunteer Roy Crase from the 2010 Season at Khirbet el-Maqatir...

ABR Excavation Timelapse 6/9/2010 - by Henry B. Smith Jr. MA

Here are moving pictures from the 2010 season of The Search for Joshua's Ai at Khirbet el-Maqatir. This video and accompanying music were produced by Nathan Lundquist. Many thanks to Nathan and his wife Whitney for this excellent video and for helping ABR on the Dig.

Researching Ai 5/14/2010 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

After the Israelites defeated Jericho in the southern Jordan Valley, they then attacked the fortress of Ai in the highlands (Jos 7–8). Both of these sites have produced archaeological findings that have seemed to be in conflict with the Bible. Scholars have been quick to point out that these discrepancies lead to the conclusion that there was no Conquest as described in the book of Joshua. But is the problem with the Bible or with the interpretations of the archaeologists?

Reflections on the 2009 Season at Hazor 8/27/2009 - by Gordon Franz MA

This year the Hazor archaeological excavation was conducted from June 21-July 31, 2009 under the able leadership of the co-directors: Professor Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman. Most of our efforts for this season were concentrated in Area M on the northern slopes of the Upper City overlooking the Lower City. In charge of this area were the co-area supervisors: Sharon Zuckerman and Shlomit Becher...

The ABR Excavation at Khirbet el-Maqatir: Review of Past Work and Report on the 2009 Season 7/17/2009 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

After a hiatus of nine years, ABR has resumed work at Kh. el-Maqatir, a promising candidate for Joshua’s Ai (Joshua 7–8). The site is located approximately 9 mi north of Jerusalem and 0.6 mi west of et-Tell, the site most scholars identify as Joshua’s Ai. There is a major problem identifying et-Tell as Joshua’s Ai, however, as the site was unoccupied at the time of the Israelite Conquest of Canaan...

Update from Khirbet el-Maqatir Week Two 6/7/2009 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood describes some of the work from the second week of the 2009 season at Khirbet el-Maqatir...

Update from Khirbet el-Maqatir Week One 5/29/2009 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

Dr. Bryant Wood describes some of the work from the first week at Khirbet el-Maqatir...

Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? A New Look at the Archaeological Evidence 5/1/2008 - by Bryant G. Wood PhD

The story of the Israelite conquest of Jericho (Joshua 2-6) is one of the best known and best loved in the entire Bible. The vivid description of faith and victory has been a source of inspiration for countless generations of Bible readers. But did it really happen as the Bible describes it?

"The Cites are Great and Walled Up to Heaven" 1/30/2006 - by Col. (Ret.) David G. Hansen PhD

One of the most vociferously attacked historical accounts in the Bible is the Old Testament description of the Israelite Conquest of Canaan as recorded in the book of Joshua. According to many critics, the archaeological evidence does not support either the Biblical version or date of the Conquest events...

Volunteer in 2012 Bible and Spade magazine Become a Member Make a Donation to ABR

Research RSS Feed

AddThis Feed Button

Recent Articles

In a continuing series of articles, I have highlighted the Annual Meetings of the American Schools of...
Videos: The location of Joshua's Ai has been a matter of mystery and controversy since the beginnings of archaeological...
Contemporary Issues, General Apologetics: Every day we make decisions based upon our assumptions concerning truth. Consider the popular yet profoundly...
Associates for Biblical Research
  • PO Box 144, Akron, PA 17501
  • Phone: +1 717-859-3443 | Fax: +1 717-859-3393
  • Toll Free: 1-800-430-0008
Friend ABR on Facebook.com